While exploring the world and the associated conservation issues I've been noting down my reflections and discoveries. Some posts are more organized while others are simple notes.

I generally focus on conservation issues effecting biodiversity, land use/abuse, research, and job opportunities that I have come across. Most of the opportunities come from the Opps page and you can click on the button below to take you there.

This was an article that I wrote on behalf of the Endangered Species Coalition for newspapers in Oregon. The Eugene Weekly ran it and I copied it below

​Earlier this year, Governor Brown signed a bill affirming the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s decision to remove wolves from the state Endangered Species Act and essentially block judicial review. Although the delisting decision and subsequent passage of HB 4040 dealt wolf recovery a blow, the wolf conservation and management plan ultimately determines the fate of this keystone species.

Eight years ago there were no wolves in Oregon. Twenty five years ago there were no wolves in the west. There are currently not just wolves in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, but in Northern California as well. Ecologically wolves have been described as ecosystem engineers, keystone species, and natural “vaccines” for disease spread. Through their predation of deer and elk they decrease browse time which allows appropriate plants to grow, they increase the available scavenger food source for a wide variety of other animals, they decrease the abundance of destructive mesopredators (raccoons, coyotes, skunks, etc), and they thin otherwise healthy herds of elk and deer of chronic wasting disease.

Ecologically, wolf conservation is smart. In extrapolating how much time, energy, and money I spent in the past couple years trying to photograph wolves in the wild, I imagine conserving this species makes economic sense as well. The argument that wolves are devastating livestock operations and harming humans doesn’t stand the test of time. Sure, there are some livestock losses and in those rare instances that they occur, ranchers are compensated. However the depredation of livestock does not outweigh the benefits wolves bring to our ecosystem. It’s baffling to me that the “big bad wolf” myth is still perpetuated and ultimately creating more fear and anger.

The modern human and wolf interaction is novel. With the policies we enact and the support or opposition we provide we collectively decide how we want to live with other species and within our ecosystem. Wolf protection and management is an experiment for future large carnivore recovery in this country and globally. For the last ten thousand years humans have done a terrific job of killing the monsters of our nightmares: saber-tooth cats, mastodons, short-face bears, and American lions -- all the way up to the wolves. I’m pleased to see that as a society we’re investing in wildlife and fostering recovery for the many predator species we nearly wiped out: grizzly bears, wolverines, jaguars, and mountain lions.

We can continue to deny protection or we can use these interactions as opportunities to learn how to cohabitate better. Wolves embody not just the image of wilderness but the definition of a natural system working. If we make decisions that give them that chance, we are not only supporting the natural resources of Oregon but also contributing to the legacy of our state. The wolf question needs to be answered but constructive and mutually beneficial results do not occur from removing their protection and ultimately, the species.